Previews

Armored Core For Answer

The first mission that we embarked on demonstrated another new addition to the Armored Core arsenal known as the Vanguard Over Boost (or VOB). Essentially, this new piece of equipment is a giant booster strapped to the back of your NEXT that provides speedy insertion for targets that deny a more surgical approach. Similar to the booster rockets of the space shuttle, the VOB burns its payload of fuel, catapulting your NEXT at blinding speeds towards its target and disengages and disintegrates once spent.

In the first mission, the VOB was used to provide a kind of mini-game of sorts wherein we were sent rocketing towards our objective while dodging cannon fire from a gigantic gun platform. Your mobility is significantly decreased while strapped to the VOB, so you have to make due with quick jolts of boost to jink out of the way of incoming fire. Even so, it enables you to cover a ton of ground in a very small amount of time, so the tradeoff seems worth it. Of course, you can't opt out of the use of the VOB when a mission calls for it, so it's not like you could decide not to use it anyway.

Once we'd reached our target, an enormous floating fortress that appeared to be constructed out of two aircraft carriers lashed together with a humongous cannon bolted to the top, it was time to unleash the destruction. The video below shows off the new focus on huge boss objectives demonstrated by this first level.

When Jawas Attack

In another mission further along in ACFA's storyline, we went up against what appeared to be a gigantic version of the Jawa Sandcrawler from "Star Wars." Titled The Great Wall, this mission required us to skirt the outer edges of the mechanical monstrosity's firing lanes while moving to the back of the titanic train. Once properly situated at the rear of the tremendous vehicle, we were able to blast through a hatch and gain entry to the interior. While the close quarters made the use of multi-warhead missiles untenable, the twin miniguns on our shoulders made short work of the defenders inside the rolling superfortress.

Within the belly of this beast, we smashed through the smattering of lesser robots to reach the delicate furnaces that drove the huge, lumbering crawler. Unfortunately, destroying the engine room had a negative effect on the crawler overall, and although we had completed our objective, the ensuing explosion disintegrated our NEXT as well as the target.

Thankfully, Team Xbox Executive Editor Tom Price handily dispatched The Great Wall during his attempt at the mission, so we were able to view the cut-scene that concluded the mission. It was basically just an in-game cinematic depicting the giant train exploding in huge gouts of flame while Tom's NEXT stood glaring triumphantly at a safe distance. These cut-scenes will be more numerous in Armored Core For Answer and augment the increased emphasis on story and plot.

Due out in just a few short weeks, Armored Core For Answer seems to handle much as its immediate predecessor did, with a few gameplay additions and substantially improved briefings. We'll have more details on the online multiplayer as well as the all-new co-op modes in the coming weeks as Armored Core For Answer prepares for launch to retailers.